Guesses At Nothing

I'd like to thank Beccaboo for her thoughtful comment on my Support Barack Obama post.  I cannot reiterate enough how much I support Barack Obama.   His words are enough to motivate even the most jaded, apathetic and disillusioned
voter.   But he is much more than just a great orator, he embodies hope.  He embodies hope that we can break the cycle of greed and corruption that has plagued this country for half a century.  If you have a minute, watch his response to the State of the Union Address posted below.  In it you can see how much he cares for this renewed ideal of just politics. 



Tags:obama

As the state of the union winds to a close, and it becomes apparent that with Bush it is more of the same yadda yadda, (in spite of the fact that his legacy is failed); I want to take a second to say, please support Barack Obama. 

Some say that Bush's time in office was the catalyst for catharsis.  Like a deep cleansing at the spa, all the shit rises to the surface.  Civil liberties, habeas corpus, ignoring Geneva, war, spying, torture, disproportionate tax relief for the wealthy, a failed economy; every child left behind, lack of global warming legislation, moreover the failed and corrupt political system in our country; in short, all the shit that has been festering in this country has risen to the surface under Bush and the time has come for change. 

Barack Obama embodies change.  He stands for a new brand of visionary politics that seeks not to rule by creating policy in a system where corporate money has far too much influence, but to inspire and  mobilize the disillusioned masses.  Barack seeks to change the system fundamentally so that it serves the people in the way that the founding fathers intended. 

This country can be great,  and not just  because of a charismatic leader but because of the people within it and their capacity to do the right thing.

Tags:obama

Real quickly, a couple of random phrases that have been floating around in my head since the drive home tonight.

Casualties of the American Dream 

Pill Popping Mothers

Wine Drinking Brothers

Economy of Motion

One day you may regret the bread you threw away.

I am sure there is a poem in there somewhere.

As a side note, as of this writing the phrases above enclosed in quotes return, 1,  57, 2, 86,700, and 0 results respectively.

Is it better to burn out?  Or fade away?

Tags:images

This picture deserves an explanation.  It is a rough sketch that I drew in marker on a big piece of card board (~24x36 inch) when I was nineteen.  It is/was very much a self portrait of me at the time and had a lot to do with how I was feeling.  In a way it was me picking up the broken pieces of high school and putting them together again for a new career at college.  In any event, it was just a loose sketch on a piece of card board, but my good friend Chris Bronson asked me for it and kept it for all these years (9 to be exact). Recently he had it digitized, framed the printout and gave it to me while I was back home in Westernville for Christmas.  It now hangs in my den in front of my computer and really means a lot to me.  So thank you, Chris. 

Tags:images Art

I may be a little bit late to the party on this one, but in light of recent comments made by Hillary Clinton, it somehow seems relevant.  Last month there was some fervor in the press over some remarks made by James Watson, a prominent biologist, stating that a persons race may be related to their level of intelligence particularly in the case of black Africans¹.   The statement is controversial and has opened the door to a lot of discussion on the web and elsewhere.  Some, like William Saletan in this controversial Slate article, argue that IQ tests, and sequentially the racial gap that shows up in test results are infallible.  Others have been quick to point out that the IQ standard is anything but infallible as noted in a New Yorker book review.  In fact, at least one study has shown that Blacks gained 4 to 7 points on Whites between 1972 and 2002; which seems like a very short time in terms of evolutionary catchup.

Personally. I think that IQ tests and the faith that is put into their results is a simplistic way of looking at a complex problem; what it means to be intelligent. To paraphrase an Asimov anecdote, should the mechanic who can repair a motor be considered any less intelligent than the astrophysicist who cannot?  I bet your typical farmer probably doesn't know a lot about web design, but as I proved to myself this last Summer I sure as hell don't know how to grow a tomato.  It even brings to mind the cases of people with conditions like autism (like Gilles Trehin)  who are able to accomplish amazing feats.  As Asimov stated in his anecdote, IQ test are arbitrary in that they are measure of intelligence decided by "a small subsection of  [a] society [that] has managed to foist itself on the rest as an arbiter of such matters."

In any event, the statement that James Watson made, the Slate article, as well as Hillary's recent political gaffe, show that  being considered intelligent doesn't exclude you from saying something dumb.

1. In a case of profound irony it has been discovered that Watson himself is 16% black African having a great-grandparent from sub-Saharan Africa. 

They say that those who don't learn from history are bound to repeat it.  My father-in-law owns a beta-max player.  And now, I am the not so proud owner of an HD DVD player. 

For those of you who have no clue about what I am talking about, Sony and Toshiba have been battling it out for dominance of the next-gen high-def video format; a war that has been compared to the battle between VHS and Beta Max.  VHS eventually won in spite of Beta-Max's supposed superior quality.  And history repeats... 

Until now the major studios have been split in which format they chose to support with Warner Brothers supporting both formats.  Warner has just put its support behind Blu-ray, a move that the media is declaring the death of HD DVD.

As for why the major studios are choosing Blu-ray; it does have a higher storage capacity and Blu-ray titles have sold more copies than HD DVD titles, according to the AP.  However, HD DVD players had their strongest sales in the 4th quarter of 2007 and it has many features already available that are going to take some time for Blu-ray to develop.  HD DVD players also upscale regular DVDs to high-definition while Blu-ray players are unable to play them.

I also find Warner Brothers statement that the availability of multiple formats was causing confusion and accounting for slower adoption of HD players a bit tenuous.  If that was the case, then why wait until after the holiday season to announce their move.  Blu-ray players are considerably more expensive than HD DVD players, and for many holiday shoppers (myself included) the choice was apparently a no-brainer.   I believe that if the market had played out fairly HD DVD could have had a shot, but the idea that the winner would be decided by the buying public was never a reality.  Warner Brothers knew long before the holiday season that they would eventually back Blu-ray, all but killing the hopes of Toshiba's HD DVD.  As a jilted holiday shopper all I can say is the least they could have done was warn a brother. (Sorry, couldn't help myself  :-))

But all is not lost.  I do have a thirty day return policy on the useless piece of electronics that is under my TV.  As for Blu-ray. I am not about to rush out and buy one.

In case you missed it here is Obama's rousing speech in Iowa from the other night:




I have to say that I find the politics of hope refreshing. It stands in stark contrast to the Giuliani video I posted a few days ago. I remember thinking in 2004 that the politics of hope could be just as effective as the politics of fear. I am glad that it has become a reality.

I've decided to post my 2007 top fifteen keywords as bloggers are sometimes wont to do.  I should note that my stats are only as of May 21st which is when I first installed Google Analytics.  I should also note that my numbers are incredibly pathetic.   My number one query was "jims notes" which accounted for 202 visits (due largely to the fact that my soon-to-be-wife types that into Google instead of going directly to my site) and that was nearly 20 fold higher than my second top ranked keyword which brought in a whopping 14 visits.  Without further mumbo-jumbo, here is the list:

1. jims notes
2. an unfortunate truth *
3. site:jimsnotes.net jack london
   
4. even though i'm far from home i'm not alone **
5. don't go chasing water falls ***
   
6. even though i'm far from home i'm not alone lyrics
7. i know i know i am not alone
8. unfortunate truth
9. jims notes
10. oh can you feel it ****
11. the innocent graham greene *****
    
12. holdeveryhting.com ******
13. jimsnotes\
14. john edwards sneeze
15. opposite of pro

* This key phrase was wildly popular in Australia.  I am not sure why unless perhaps Gore's movie came out under an alternate title in that region.
**  By far my most popular post historically accounting for over 800 unique visits
*** Surprisingly (and embarrassingly) ranked #1 on Yahoo for some time.  As of this writing it is towards the bottom of the second page.
**** By far my favorite and most hilarious post
***** A lot of my spectacular flop, "Thirty Authors in Thirty Days" ranks well in yahoo
****** This anomaly is due to my hasty misspelling of the word "everything".  At least I know I am not the only one out there who can't spell.

And speaking of exploding tires, I stumbled upon this little doo-dad.  It might not actually stop your tires from exploding but at least you'll know if you are losing pressure which could help you save a few bucks at the pump.

Can anyone say "only leg to stand on?"

You know what that means... The holidays are officially over.  I had a great vacation to New York and went back to work today feeling relaxed, rejuvenated and ready to take on the world. 

As for resolutions, besides the obligatory eat right and exercise, there is this little bit of bumper sticker wisdom:

Encourage your hopes, not your fears. 

I saw it on a car bumper on my way to New York and it struck me funny.  I tend to be the kind of guy who worries about, I don't know, stupid things like whether my tires will explode, or that I left the coffee maker on.  Or about Global Warming.   Or Nuclear annihilation.  But enough is enough.  Instead of worrying and doing nothing, how bout hoping and doing something.  Be the change you want to see in the world, right?